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Review
. 2020 Oct 9;21(1):260.
doi: 10.1186/s12931-020-01516-8.

COVID-19 multidisciplinary high dependency unit: the Milan model

Stefano Aliberti  1   2 , Francesco Amati  3   4 , Maria Pappalettera  3   4 , Marta Di Pasquale  3   4 , Alice D'Adda  3   4 , Marco Mantero  3   4 , Andrea Gramegna  3   4 , Edoardo Simonetta  3   4 , Anna Maria Oneta  3   4 , Emilia Privitera  3   4 , Andrea Gori  4   5 , Giorgio Bozzi  4   5 , Flora Peyvandi  4   6 , Francesca Minoia  7 , Giovanni Filocamo  7 , Chiara Abbruzzese  4   8 , Marco Vicenzi  4   9   10 , Paola Tagliabue  4   8 , Salvatore Alongi  4   8 , Francesco Blasi  3   4
Affiliations
Review

COVID-19 multidisciplinary high dependency unit: the Milan model

Stefano Aliberti et al. Respir Res. .

Abstract

COVID-19 is a complex and heterogeneous disease. The pathogenesis and the complications of the disease are not fully elucidated, and increasing evidence shows that SARS-CoV-2 causes a systemic inflammatory disease rather than a pulmonary disease. The management of hospitalized patients in COVID-19 dedicated units is advisable for segregation purpose as well as for infection control. In this article we present the standard operating procedures of our COVID-19 high dependency unit of the Policlinico Hospital, in Milan. Our high dependency unit is based on a multidisciplinary approach. We think that the multidisciplinary involvement of several figures can better identify treatable traits of COVID-19 disease, early identify patients who can quickly deteriorate, particularly patients with multiple comorbidities, and better manage complications related to off-label treatments. Although no generalizable to other hospitals and different healthcare settings, we think that our experience and our point of view can be helpful for countries and hospitals that are now starting to face the COVID-19 outbreak.

Keywords: COVID-19; High dependency unit; Management; Multidisciplinary approach.

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Conflict of interest statement

Prof. Aliberti reports grants and personal fees from Bayer Healthcare, grants and personal fees from Aradigm Corporation, grants and personal fees from Grifols, personal fees from Astra Zeneca, personal fees from Basilea, personal fees from Zambon, personal fees from Novartis, personal fees from Raptor, grants and personal fees from Chiesi, personal fees from Actavis UK Ltd., personal fees from Horizon, grants and personal fees from INSMED, outside the submitted work. Dr. Mantero reports other from Astra-Zeneca, personal fees and other from MadicAir, other from Vivisol, outside the submitted work. Prof. Blasi reports grants and personal fees from astrazeneca, grants from bayer, grants and personal fees from chiesi, grants and personal fees from gsk, personal fees from guidotti, personal fees from grifols, grants and personal fees from insmed, personal fees from menarini, personal fees from mundipharma, personal fees from novartis, grants and personal fees from pfizer, personal fees from zambon, outside the submitted work.

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